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Continental Europe: September 2001

Uncertainty for Allianz and Dresdner,a rise in Venture Capital activity in Spain and impressive profits for NPM Capital...

Generali Finanz sets up private equity fund
AM Generali Finanz is to build up a E1.5bn portfolio of private equity investments, split between Europe and the US. It has said that it is close to appointing its first external manager to run the investments, a year after it began searching. The plan is to invest in up to four partnerships. Generali Finanz said it was pleased to be investing at a time when valuations have come down substantially from those a couple of years ago.
PrivateEquityOnline 7.9.01

New incubator for Greece
Greek firms NBG Venture capital and Vectis Capital have joined forces to manage a new Dr2.5bn (£5m) incubator fund in a bid to stimulate entrepreneurialism in Greece. iVen will provide up to £300,000 seed capital to investee companies as well as advisory, accounting, legal and personnel services. Partners in the fund have committed Dr1.5bn and Greece's Development Ministry will top it up from European Union structural funds.
Venturedome 21.9.01

Triodos Bank sets up green VC fund
Triodos Bank has established a venture capital fund to specialise in companies with green credentials. With a target of E50m, the fund will invest in companies developing and providing alternative energy, organic foods and environmental projects. It has had a E25m closing with commitments from MeesPierson, VIV/Fortis, ING, Delta Lloyd, SMAP and Triodos itself.
Venture Capital Europe September 2001

MCI scales back ahead of E2m loss
MCI Management, Poland's first listed private equity house, has said that it expects losses of around E2m this year and has announced a series of cost-cutting measures. MCI is to scale back its operating costs, which are running at around E650,000 a year. The firm, which floated on the Warsaw Stock Exchange earlier in the year, has recently shifted its focus away from internet businesses by buying a majority stake in S4E, a Polish IT company.
Venturedome 21.9.01

Allianz and Dresdner still uncertain
The future of Dresdner Kleinwort Capital and Allianz Capital Partners is still in the balance six months after Allianz and Dresdner merged. The two private equity operations are very different and a full on merger is said to be almost impossible - Dresdner is a semi-captive; Allianz is very much under its parent's control. There had been plans for a management buy-out of Dresdner, but they were put on hold after the Allianz Dresdner Group shelved proposals for a flotation.
Efinancial News 17.9.01

Spain's VC investment leaps ten per cent
Venture capital investment in Spain increased by ten per cent in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period of last year. The new figures from the Spanish Venture Capital Association, ASCRI, reflect Spain's increasing importance in the European venture capital scene and offer a contrast to the falls experienced this year by some of the more mature markets, most notably the US.
Venturedome 21.9.01

NPM Capital reports impressive profit rise
Amsterdam-based NPM Capital has announced a 47 per cent increase in its profits for the first half of this year. It reported profits of E141m for the first two quarters of 2000. The firm has also increased dramatically the total amount it invested, from E58m in the first half of 2000 to E128m this year. The firm is living proof that even in these slower times, exits are feasible - it reported 19 divestments, netting the firm E111m.
Venture Capital Europe September 2001

Softbank Europe Ventures returns cash
Softbank Europe Ventures is handing back about $50m to its corporate investors, at their request, and an even larger sum to its parent company to reflect deteriorating confidence in technology investment across the continent and a deepening frugality in the face of the economic downturn. David Sola, managing director of Softbank Europe, said funds and investors alike were feeling intense pressure at the moment and that a larger fund was no longer necessary in the current environment.
AltAssets 27.9.01

Europeans freeze Israeli VC investments
European institutions have frozen committed investments in Israeli venture capital funds to wait and see what sort of military action the US and its allies take in the Middle East in response to the recent terrorist attacks, according to a leading Israeli venture capitalist.
Zvi Schecheter, co-founder and general partner of Giza Venture Capital, said a number of his firm's European investors had refused to sign off investments to which they had previously committed because they are worried about mounting instability in the region.
AltAssets 26.9.01

Tax holiday for foreign VC investors in Israel
The Israeli finance ministry has finally heeded the entreaties of its domestic venture capital industry by granting exemption from capital gains tax to foreign investors in VC funds. The announcement made for welcome news in an otherwise unrelentingly gloomy environment. Etan Hillman, the general manager of the Israeli Venture Association, said he hoped the government's decision would inject a new measure of confidence into the market, which has been badly damaged by the downturn in global financial markets and the latest security threat to the region following the recent terrorist attacks on the US.
AltAssets 25.9.01

Net.IPO abandons IPO business
Net.IPO, the German online investment bank has decided to shelve its IPO business as the number of IPOs on the Neuer Markt dwindles. Instead, it will focus exclusively on its venture capital business. The firm has seen difficult times in recent months, closing offices across Europe and reducing staff numbers from 30 to just five. 
EVCJ 7.9.01

Office closures for Softbank Europe Ventures
Softbank Europe Ventures has cut down its European operations, closing offices in Munich and Paris. The firm will now operate exclusively out of London. The closures are accompanied by staff movements, with Marc Zugel leaving the firm and James Stuart moving to the London office.
EVCJ 24.9.01

EU white paper launched by EVCA
The EVCA launched a new white paper to set out its four long-term priorities to boost European private equity, suggesting that entrepreneurship is the engine of economic growth and that to flourish, companies need access to supplies of venture capital and private equity. The paper calls for better and increased training on private equity for advisers, a reduction in capital gains tax on entrepreneurial investment, a simplication of fund structures and moves to make them tax transparent to avoid double taxation issues for investors. It also pushes for the establishment of funded pension schemes throughout Europe and the adoption of the ‘prudent man' approach to pension fund regulation seen in the US and the UK.
AltAssets 13.9.01

Siemens merges venture capital units
German electronics company Siemens is to regroup its corporate venturing units to form one organisation, Siemens Venture Capital, under the leadership of Bjoern Christensen. Siemens' old structure saw its corporate venturing activities grouped within the company's various business activities. It also had the former Siemens Venture Capital, which made direct investments. The new structure will see all of Siemens' venture capital activities, including direct and fund investments, folded into a single entity. Christensen, former president and CEO of Siemens' Mustang Ventures, is to replace Dirk Lupberger as managing director of Siemens Venture Capital.
AltAssets 6.9.01